Where are the PK3 programs in west NW neighborhoods?
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Anonymous
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Can anyone explain to me why there are so few PK3 programs west of Rock Creek? My LO won't be in till 2019-20, so not lottery this year, but we're considering relocating from current location of IB Thompson for more space for baby #2, so I'm diving into neighborhoods/schools to focus on and I realized that all of areas in NW we've been looking at for the great elementary schools don't have PK3 programs which I just found surprising. I literally thought the Myschool.org map wasn't working because there is a giant hole for anything west of RCP.
Is this because the funding for programs has gone to lower income neighborhoods (which is understandable- again just surprised- esp since Cap Hill and other areas aren't exactly low income anymore)? Are there plans to open any PK3 programs or more classrooms at Hyde-Addison post reno? I mean, 14 pk3 seats for everything west of Rock Creek, is that a joke?! I guess we'd just move wherever for a good IB K and plan on private PK because there aren't even convenient charters... seems like so many are clustered in NE/SE which are not convenient for our commutes, so we're not targeting those neighborhoods. Just curious for insights as a very confused (and scared) lottery novice- thanks! |
Anonymous
| I think because the schools are so physically crowded that they cut Pk3 to fill up space. |
Anonymous
| Nope. No preK 3 west of the Park. |
Anonymous
| Has there ever been free PreK 3 WOTP? |
Anonymous
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There is not enough room in those schools for PK3.
When DCPS tried to redistrict so there would be more room, families objected because they didn't want to be zoned out of high-performing elementary schools. Most families who live in upper NW west of the park would rather be in a high-scoring elementary for 6 years (K-5, plus a chance at PK4) than be in a low-scoring school for 8 years (PK3-5). If they felt otherwise, they would live in-bound for schools that offered PK3; there are plenty of them where any IB kid can get a seat for PK. |
Anonymous
| There are many great private preschool programs in NWDC. |
Anonymous
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charters go where they can afford real estate and that isn't wotp.
a year of free pk (and two years if they don't get pk4) is what NW folk give up to have good k-12 schools. If I could have at all afforded a 3 bedroom house wopt, I would have happily paid for 1-2 additional years of pk. and there's always appletree |
Anonymous
| I've seen ads that one of the Spanish bilingual private preschools has free PK3. They give preference to current families, so I assume you'd have to pay to send your kid to their 2s program in order to guarantee space. |
Anonymous
| It's because PK3 was initially introduced in Title I schools in DC, but wasn't phased out when those schools lose their Title I status. The Hill was all Title I a decade ago; WOTP not so much. If PK3 were being introduced now, Brent and Maury would 100% not have it. They'd have extra PK4 classes so that more IB could get in. In fact, there is some momentum at Brent for making this change now. (There was a bigger uproar a few years ago when there was a class where a few IB kids with siblings enrolled were WLed; things seem to have died down a bit as the PK population of Brent has stopped expanding, probably because Brent has gotten so expensive.) |
Anonymous
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I think you are correct that historically, PK was started with federal Head Start money to help kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, which is why the historically more affluent neighborhoods west of RCP have limited PK offerings. Additionally, as other PPs have said, WOTP elementary schools have been crowded for a long time, and therefore barely have space for PK4 (many IB families don't get into their school's PK4).
But be aware that even if you live WOTP, you can always lottery for PK3/4 spots EOTP. Just know that you won't get into any of the popular DCPS schools because they won't have room for OOB students, and that chances at the popular charters are also slim. But there is always Appletree (PK only), and since you will have a guaranteed spot for K, you have the freedom to explore the often excellent PK programs at the lower scoring and less popular DCPS schools. It will all depend on what you can make work for your commute. Or, as you say, you go private for PK if you can afford it. I would strongly advise buying near any charters on the assumption that you will get in, because the odds are constantly shrinking. Better to buy for the long run than because of free PK. Good luck with your decision. |
Anonymous
*That was obviously meant to say "advise against"! |
Anonymous
OP here- thanks for the insights and this just confirmed my thinking. I just didn't get the history of the program since just on kid #1 who's just shy of 16 months. When you hear "DC has free pre-K," you don't understand the major caveats until you start digging into the deep dark lottery hole. Maybe if I quit working and can then drive my LO all over town in the morning.... ha. Alas, loss of income > private preK costs, so there you go. Nothing is ever truly free!  I agree, seems like a reassessment is in order since this program might not be reaching the students it originally intended to reach now that these neighborhoods have gentrified (but largely due to the program one could argue).
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Anonymous
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OP - consider the enhanced PK programs that operate outside of the My School DC lottery (scroll to the bottom of the link below).
There is an option in Ward 3 (Communikids) and another in Ward 2. They are free for children 3 and above and there is fee-based day care for younger kids. http://www.myschooldc.org/find-schools/school-options-outside-my-school-dc |
Anonymous
I know people from WOTP who have dropped their kids off at Appletree CH on their way to their downtown office. |
Anonymous
DC does have free PK. It just might not be free PK in your exact neighborhood. There are PK programs (bilingual, montessori, etc.) that are not full after the lottery or even at the start of the school year. If you can afford to live IB for a school that doesn't offer PK3, then you can afford to live somewhere that does....and maybe you could afford to stay home too, if you'd prefer. You get to make those choices. Most people who live where there are abundant PK3 slots can't afford to make that choice or many others. Cutting out PK3 at schools that have gentrified doesn't help get more PK slots at the schools that never had it--in fact, it would probably wind up making crowding at WoTP schools worse. And even in the schools you think have gentrified still have some at-risk kids. Also, you have no indication that free PK "might not be reaching the students it originally intended to reach" or that expanding it WoTP would help with that. Here's what would help make PK3 slots available WoTP: close Fillmore as an arts center and open it as either a PK3-5 school or let it do PK for a group of the schools that currently don't have it, and start those schools at K. Also take middle school out of Francis Stevens and send Ross, Thompson, and Francis Stevens elementary kids to Cardozo. Close Adams as a middle school and again either open it as another PK3-5 school or have it serve as the PK center for a cluster of other schools that will then start at K. Feed Oyster and Bancroft to MacFarland with the other bilingual programs. Parents who want their kids to go to Wilson (or to have middle school at SWW at F-S) will HATE these ideas. 5 years from now, you will probably hate these ideas too. That's the issue--you will only feel the way you do for another couple years and then you'll be in at Janney or wherever and not want to risk a boundary shift just to let some other lady with a 16 month old have free PK near her house. |